Woe is here and Wednesday’s her name. Jenna Ortega reprises her role as resident goth girl Wednesday Addams in Wednesday season 2. Picking up after the season 1 finale, Wednesday returns to Nevemore Academy after summer break. After she gets a premonition of Enid dying, it’s now up to her to save her best friend despite having exhausted all her powers.
Check out SEA Wave’s High Five review of Wednesday season 2. Spoilers ahead.
Gothic Set Designs
One of the best aspects of the show is its set design, which tells stories about the setting without viewers even realizing it. The realistic details of the school are based on Charleville Castle’s gothic architecture in Ireland, giving the school a haunting and historic look, while making use of saturated colors to make the scene vibrant and full of life.
Another way this attention to detail manifests is through Tim Burton’s familiar style of storytelling through his short claymation about the Skull Tree. Despite being in black and white, the intricate clay sets and movements set the tone of the whole season in just those fleeting moments.
A Family with Secrets
Still from Netflix
“Secrets are the bedrock of the Addams family” is a line that appeared in the Wednesday season 2 trailer and became the core of the plot. Like every other family, the Addams have their own problems, but they try to resolve them the Addams way. In the first season, we mostly saw Wednesday flying solo, solving the case and saving the day by herself. Now, the dynamic changes. Her powers are exhausted from her solo adventures in the summer, and she has to depend on those around her, especially her family, because they know how to get her powers back.
All these chain of events lead back to a secret that Morticia and Gomez have been keeping buried. Throughout the series, the lies and deceit just keep piling up until they eventually come crashing down. From season one’s revelation that Morticia was actually the one who killed Garret Gates, to this season’s reveal about the murder of Isaac Night and his connection to Thing, the Addams family was built on lies of omission. Despite Morticia and Gomez’s clear intentions to protect their family, we see just how devastating the effects of lies can get when they’ve been kept for too long.
Despite the lies and the consequences, Morticia acknowledges them and tries to keep Wednesday and Thing safe by saying, “These are our sins, Wednesday. We will face them. I won’t put you in danger again.” These interesting family dynamics are rarely something you see in a series like Wednesday, making it all the more of a refreshing watch.
Parallel and Swapped Narratives
Still from Netflix
Out of all the storylines presented in season 2, the parallel and switch in Wednesday and Enid’s dilemmas is the most intriguing. In season 1, we saw Wednesday living the stereotypical angsty teen life. She was fine on her own despite the connections she was starting to create, while Enid was just able to make her own connections by finally becoming one of the pack with her full wolf out. But things have changed in season 2.
Enid is possibly cursed to be alone because she may be an alpha, while Wednesday’s psychic power can only be returned once her familial connections have been repaired. The fear of both parties is explored when a body switching incident happens in episode 6. We see a masterclass of thematic writing as we see the parallels between our two protagonists in full display. The detail that they put in this episode makes the reversal back in their bodies much more heartfelt, showing how Wednesday and Enid treat each other like family. It also offered a lot of memorable and memeable moments because we got to see a side of Wednesday we thought we’d never see.
Iconic Cast
Photo from Netflix
Wednesday may be a reimagining of the Addams family, but one of the aspects that made the show shine this season was the casting choices for both minor and major characters. We have returning cast members Catherine Zeta-Jones, Luis Guzman, and Fred Armisen, who bring their charm as Morticia, Gomez, and Fester to the Addams family elders. Joining them is Joana Lumley as Grandmama—bringing an air of superiority and elitism to her role. Gwendoline Christie also reprises her role as Larissa Weems in a surprisingly essential role, even though she died in the first season. We also have Christina Ricci and Christopher Lloyd playing season one’s villain and insightful professor, which is a delightful nod to their roles in the ‘90s Addams Family films.
Other cast members that shone this season were Steve Buscemi as Principal Dort, Lady Gaga as Rosaline Rotwood, Billie Piper as Isadora Capri, Heather Matarazzo as Judi, Frances O’Connor as Froncoise, and Anthony Michael Hall as a scout guide. Each of them have been, in one way or another, been involved in iconic films and series that defined generations, so it was a nice touch to see them playing a different role than what’s usually associated with them.
More Questions than Answers
Still from Netflix
Prior to season two’s release, Netflix announced that Wednesday season 3 is confirmed with the tagline, “Bad Things Come In Threes.” The series made sure to clue the audience in by leaving more questions as the season ended—with Capri approaching Tyler Galpin by the headstones of his parents, Grandmama’s basement, and Wednesday experiencing a bit of her power returning through a premonition. They were good breadcrumbs to make audiences curious enough about what’s in store for our characters. There’s also Enid going off on her own as a werewolf. The question now is, will Wednesday be able to find her and bring her back?
Despite the homage to the gothic and horror themes, the story’s tone is like a typical young adult film, with the caveat being that the characters subvert the typical characters going through the teenage experience. The Burtonesque storytelling and the amazing acting carried the series, but it did seem like the season lost some of its novelty and charm from the first season. All in all, it was still a fun watch, and we can’t wait to see how they resolve the loose ends with season 3. SEA Wave rates Wednesday season 2 a 3.5 out of 5 waves.